Plan B
by greengingerus
Summary: As the daughter of the Prime Minister of the UK, Lady Mary Crawley could afford to live the life of a privileged brat forever, but a scandal forces her to resort to a plan B. The prospect of a boring normal life are not as enticing, but is everything really as it seems? M/M Modern AU
1. Prologue

Lady Mary Crawley had never believed in such things as bad luck, karma and all that sort of nonsense. Yet, that year fate had shown her that finding oneself in the wrong place at wrong time can only be a recipe for disaster.

At 23 years old, Mary had neither a job nor was she in university and was living off her family's good fortune. However brutal and unfair she thought the class system to be, Mary firmly believed it was silly not to take advantage of her position on the social ladder. Some people really needed to work in order to survive, some people didn't need to work at all. Surely it was easy to view one's life that way when one's father was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Nevertheless the Crawley family's good fortune didn't merely stop at leading a first world country, no … The Crawleys were also one of the oldest blue blooded families of the whole kingdom, whose endurance in the 21st century had definitely been facilitated by Mary's father Robert's marriage to one Cora Levinson, heir to one of the richest families of New York and CEO of the European branch of the biggest cosmetic brand of the world: Bliss.

It was no surprise then, that once A-levels were all done, Mary had no intention to continue with her education what-so-ever. She figured she would keep travelling the world and living the high life in the company of her circle of privileged youths until her mother would have inevitably left her the reins of Bliss. Between her ugly duckling desperate-to-impress middle sister Edith, and her youngest aspiring doctor sister Sybil, Mary had no doubt her mother would have chosen as future CEO the daughter who was constantly on the 'Best dressed under 25' list.

It had never occurred to her that one single, fateful moment could have put her stress-free life plan in jeopardy.

"I think you must realise, young lady, the great deal of trouble you have put your family through."

As she sat completely still facing her livid interlocutor with light of the chandelier blinding her eyes, Mary felt more in a police station rather than in her living room at Grantham House.

"With all do respect, Mrs Hughes, but I don't think Lady Mary can be held completely responsible for what happened –"

"My dear Mr Carson, while you'd be the best person to ask when it comes to domestic policy, I am the Prime Minister's campaign manager, so you must allow me to say that, since her father is in the middle of a re-election campaign, it is completely Lady Mary's responsibility to have found herself even in the remote possibility of the situation…"

What was she supposed to do? What were her options? Admission of guilt? Shameless request of forgiveness? It wasn't her style. Plus, it would have bee no use. Growing up in the household of a politician had thought her that no scandal can be resolved with a simple "I'm sorry". And also, what was she supposed to be sorry about?

All she had done was leading the same lifestyle she had carried on for the last five years. Visiting beautiful countries, going to amazing parties, having fun with handsome rich strangers … She had been doing that ever since her father's first campaign, and that hadn't hurt his triumph in the slightest. On the contrary perhaps, it had made their family more interesting and appealing to the general public.

The start of the latest act of her party-girl life hadn't been any different. The avid readers of British tabloids had very much enjoyed her new adventures in Thailand her blossoming romance with the dashing son of the Turkish Ambassador in Britain, one Mr Kemal Pamuk.

Mary had met him at a party given by east Asian royalty upon her first arrival in Thailand, and their attraction had been clear from the very first moment. Kemal had all the charm given by his olive skin and his middle-eastern features, complemented by the impeccable manners acquired in one of the most prestigious English boarding schools. It was a match made in heaven, or at least that was what the papers said.

No one could have expected that exotic romance to turn into a tragedy in so little time. When news broke out that Kemal had been found dead in a Thai brothel, the papers had gone crazy and Mary, together with her family found themselves in the eye of the storm.

What the gossip-hungry tabloids did not know, that had been carefully kept a secret thanks to the excellent diplomatic abilities of Mrs Hughes was that Mary had also been present in that filthy Thai brothel. The reason behind the cover-up wasn't just Robert Crawley's re-election campaign. Mary's presence at the time of Kemal's mysterious death made her a person of interest in the possible murder investigation, and given Turkey's fragile relationship with the West it wasn't only in the Crawleys', but also in the Country's best interest to keep everything from the general public.

"Your parents have obviously laid down some conditions you must respect in order to rebuild your public im–"

"When am I exactly going to see my parents?" Mary broke her silence.

Ever since the tragic episode she had only seen secret service agents and cabinet personnel.

"They are finishing up a press conference but they should be here any minute." Mrs Hughed smiled kindly for the first time she had picked her up from the private plane at London City Airport.

"It is going to be alright, I promise" she added, earning an approving look from Mr Carson.

Of course everything was going to be solved, Mary thought. She would become her father's campaign puppet and his public image would come out spotless. But _alright_? Mary doubted anything was going to be _alright_ ever again.

"Oh, there you are!" Cora cried as soon as she walked into the room, rushing to hug her daughter in a purely exaggerated American fashion.

The Prime Minister, on the other hand, stood severe in front of his daughter with a concerned look on his face.

"We are not here to condemn you or judge you." He began, "Nobody is saying this was your fault but your … liberal lifestyle of the past few years has definitely not helped in the situation. We have discussed a lot about and I think we have come up with the ideal solution…"

"You are not here to judge me, but to simply give me my punishment." Mary blurted out proudly.

"I wouldn't put it like that. I'd like to think we are giving you a second chance." Her father retorted calmly. Mary had no idea where her father was going with this.

"You are going back to education."

Mary took her time to think for a moment. "So your plan is to have attend some classes at, let's just say King's or Imperial, while I play the charitable puppy supporting your campaign?"

"Nothing of the sort" Robert replied keeping his cool, "You will issue a statement saying that the tragic event has inspired you to re-evaluate your life, you will pack your bags and start a normal university career exactly where you were supposed to."

"Which is?"

"University of Cambridge" Robert said proudly.

"I – I don't understand."

"You got in, remember?"

"Yes, but that was five years ago. No institution holds a place for that long."

"Let's just say I happen to be at the top of their alumni's list at the moment."

While Mary contemplated the length of the personal favours her family was calling from one source to another on her behalf, the door of the drawing room opened again.

"Mary, darling!" Sybil, the sweetest and youngest of her sister cried as soon as she stepped into the room. "I jumped on a train as soon as I was able to squeeze the date of your return out of Mr Carson!" She kept on going breathlessly, as Mary smiled gratefully back at her "You'll see, you are going to love Cambridge! And we are going to see each other all the time, oh I have missed you so much!" she cried excited but was frozen by a sudden realization, "T–That is if Papa has told you already…"

"I have" Robert assured her with a chuckle, saving his youngest from a heart attack.

"So, where is the last member of the Crawley household?" she asked her parents polemically, "Too busy gloating somewhere, I suppose."

"That brings us to the last point of order." Robert stated very seriously.

"We haven't told Edith" Cora anticipated her husband worryingly.

"We thought it best to keep her in the dark about the extent of your implication in the events of the brothel."

"I think you did the right thing." Mary replied gratefully.

"I think the small town atmosphere is gonna do you good, big sis." Sybil interjected stroking Mary's shoulder, "You deserve some peace and quiet".

"There is, however, one small condition." Robert interrupted the lovely sisterly moment.

Although she was still not 100% sure this was what she wanted, Mary sighed annoyed at her father's obvious last words.

"You will have two secret service agents keeping an eye on you, at least for a while."

"Talk about a normal uni experience…"

"Mary!" Cora cried in aggravation.

Mary was no idiot. She knew perfectly well that with the Middle East it wasn't the best of times and her father's measure was ultimately for her own safety and thus completely justified. Nevertheless she couldn't help feeling incredibly stupid for having sabotaged her whole incredibly privileged life for couple of perfectly chiselled cheekbones.

 **A/N:** Hello readers, if any! I don't know if anybody reads Downton Abbey fics anymore, and Modern AU Mary/Matthew for that matter… But I had this idea and I wanted to try.

I wanted to finish with M/M's first encounter but that would have made the intro way too long, so I chose to stop it here. Please let me know if you'd like to read more, and if I have managed to catch your attention!

Who will Matthew be? How is this going to continue? Let me know if you want an answer to those questions…


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

In the six weeks that went by from Mary's return to the United Kingdom and the middle of September the tabloids had slowly started to let go of the Thailand story. However, with Cambridge's Freshers Week starting in a few days, Mary knew the nightmare was far from over.

She had played the role of the good Prime Minister's daughter for what remained of the summer, and attended only official events held by the Cabinet or the Crown. She hadn't been exactly in the mood for partying, but she wasn't happy about not hearing from any of her travelling friends either.

Being back in that bubble of family life felt almost as living in a limbo where the past five years of her life had never happened. Conversations were solely focused on Robert's campaign and nobody ever asked about Mary's travels, especially the ones in Thailand. On the other hand, excitement filled the air of the beautiful dining room of Grantham House whenever the topic of Cambridge came up at dinner.

Robert had his people buy for Mary every single item of the University's memorabilia shop, and never lost the chance of sharing his uni days anecdotes. Sometimes it almost felt as if her parents had been lobotomized and were absolutely convinced that Mary was a fresh-faced 18 year olds off on her own for the first time. It was ridiculous.

If there had bee one good thing about that summer however, it had definitely been her sister Sybil. Edith had been gone the whole summer at some journalist camp in Washington D.C., which had facilitated the bonding between the eldest and the youngest of the Crawley sisters.

When Mary had left for her travels, Sybil had been only fifteen and spending so much time with her after all those years made Mary realize how beautiful, smart and funny she was. Not to mention how much she actually talked. Seriously, that blue-eyed beauty was a total chatterbox.

"… and then Andy Chapman stands while the professor wasn't looking and place the hand of the skeleton over Madge's sleeping hand and …"

Mary could have watched her talking and laughing for hours. She was a breath of fresh hair compared to the high-collar, stiff-upper-lip scene in the other rooms of the house.

"Do you really like this Andy fellow?" Mary decided to spice up the conversation.

"I guess so," Sybil replied oblivious, "He's funn – oh wait! No Mary I know where you are going with this…"

Mary chuckled, "I just wanted to know if there was a special someone in your life".

"If you really must know, no. And I don't really like anyone from my course like that."

"Why?"

"Well, It's not that they are all posh but –"

"You don't like posh boys?" Mary asked amused.

"Certainly not as much as you do!" Sybil replied sticking her tongue out.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You know I don't mean it as an insult, but you have a type: rich and with great connections."

"That is very funny, but may I remind you that we are posh. We have titles and our papa runs the country. For God's sake we even call our father _papa_!"

"I know," Sybil retorted, "It's just I would like to meet someone with which I can have a deep, meaningful connection. And boys at Cambridge aren't that deep. They are studying machines, don't get me wrong, but all they talk about it's parties and the next car or horse breed they are going to invest in."

"Well that's reassuring …"

"You are going to be very popular, I am sure."

"Yeah, with eighteen year olds."

"They are not all eighteen." Sybil reassured her, "And you don't have to date your classmates. There's postgraduates and PhDs. And even if you don't date, who cares? You'll find a great group of friends like me and it won't matter."

Mary felt a bit unsettled. It was weird to admit, but the idea of having Sybil, her little sister, there was reassuring. But obviously Sybil had a life to go back there, and she was going to have to start again on her own. She was going to be the weird older girl of the class with her youngest sister one year above her. It was scary.

"Listen, at what time do you wanna get the train on Friday?"

"Oh, I am not going with you on Friday, I'll catch up with you later" Sybil replied nonchalantly as she put one more huge book in her luggage.

"Why?" Mary asked confused, "Do you want to avoid freshers week?"

"No, it's not that. But mama and papa said I could miss your big university send off for the press and so I took the chance. I am sorry, don't hate me please."

"Wait, what?"

"They did tell you, didn't they?" Mary's oblivious look was an answer itself, "They are officially accompanying you to Cambridge and they'll have cameras and everything for the press. I am sorry, I thought you knew…"

"No," Mary said, initially calm, "But believe me, they are not going to get away with this…"

Except they did. BCC, ITV and all that jazz had filmed her and her 'loving parents' leave the house with all the suitcases and were apparently waiting for their arrival at the entrance of the St. John's.

Although Robert had promised he only wanted a normal Cambridge experience for her, he sure had gone to great lengths not to let her blend in. Not only she had been granted a super late acceptance, but she had also got in the most prestigious of the colleges of Cambridge and was now making her great entrance surrounded by national and international television.

"This is a nightmare!" Mary cried as their car crossed the gate of the St John's and was blasted by a group of camera flashes. "I don't see the point of all of this media coverage."

"We just wanted to put all the gossip circle to an end. There will be photographic proof of you pulling your life together and starting over at a very serious institution. We anticipate the interest on your life is going to die down pretty quickly after term starts."

"That's one way to see it. All I see is that you broadcasted all over Europe the place I am going to live for the next three years. You have basically invited the whole press for tea."

"Stop stressing about it, dear" Cora interjected, "It's going to be fine".

"Are you ready?" Robert looked at the two brunettes as the car pulled over, "It's show time!"

The first 45 minutes of Mary's very normal Cambridge experience consisted of a complete photo shoot of Mary and her parents in the memorable cloisters and of her meeting the president of the University and of the College, together with the recording of a segment for BBC news where Robert had father-daughter walk with Mary and pretended to tell her the story of the sixteen century building. That was definitely an experience that made Mary question whether her father was actually in show business rather than in politics.

As soon as the show was over, Mary and her parents made their way through the corridors of the college in the direction of Mary's flat.

"So, sadly we were told that there is no one-bedroom flat in the whole college, so you'll have to share bathroom and kitchen." Robert explained, "Nevertheless, we managed to have you share them with only one person."

"Papa, it's really fine…"

"It is more a privacy reason than anything else. Oh, here they are!" Robert gasped, pointing at two tall men in suit outside Mary's flat door.

"Mary these are Alfred Nugent and James Kent. They will be the agents responsible for your safety, and will be sleeping one floor down from you."

The agents both nodded their head in Mary's direction and then faced Robert once again.

"The suitcases are already in Lady Mary's room, Mr. Prime Minister" the blonde agent informed.

"And Lady Mary's flatmate, Miss Smith is already inside."

"Golly, I had no idea." Robert sighed, "Do we have any information about the girl?"

Cora pulled out her iPhone and started reading for her husband, "Anna Smith, 21 years old. Reading Economics and on a full scholarship. She has no criminal record and her family seem to be supporters of the party for a few generations."

"You seriously didn't just do a background check on my flatmate." Mary reacted livid as Alfred opened the door of the flat for her.

"Of course we did, dear." Cora replied, "It's for your own security".

"That's ridiculous. How about 'Hey Anna, nice to meet you!'"

"Erm… Hi." a timid voice came from the end of the corridor. "I mean ehm – How do you do, Mr Prime Minister, sir? And Lady Grantham, and Lady Mary?" the petite blonde attempted a very embarrassed curtsy, but then felt silly midway.

"Please, call me Mary. It's a real pleasure to meet you, Anna." Mary said cordially as she extended her hand in Anna's direction. As Anna timidly shook it, she added, "And please don't be overwhelmed by all of this nonsense."

After a few awkward introductions and goodbyes, Robert and Cora left with their whole entourage, leaving the two girls alone in the flat.

"I – I am sorry if I made a really poor impression on your parents, Mary" Anna said as she filled the kettle. "I wasn't really expecting the Prime Minister in my flat. I was told my flatmate's name was Daisy Robinson. "

"It's alright, you did just fine. I am sorry they have all of these stupid security rules. I just hope you don't regret sharing a flat with the 'first daughter gone wild', as I believe they call me."

Anna smiled, "Maybe it's time my life gets a bit wild."

"So, I heard you are 21. Did you take a couple years off to travel?" Mary tried to get to know Anna as she made herself comfortable on the sofa.

"Not really," Anna replied, "I didn't apply for uni straight away because I wanted to help my mum with house bills and the cost of extra treatments. Then when I actually applied I ended up postponing the start date to another year, and here I am now."

"Well, I hope your mum is better now." Mary smiled.

"Actually she died six months ago."

"Oh my god, I am the worst." Mary cried in embarrassment.

"Oh no no, please don't feel bad." Anna reassured her, taking a seat beside her, "We always knew there was nothing we could do, so I came to terms with it a long time ago."

"I'm really sorry."

"It's alright. It's not like you are a stranger to loss either," Anna said taking Mary by surprise, "Oh I am sorry, I was out of line, I didn't mean to –"

"It's fine, believe me. Plus, I don't think I can compare my… loss to yours."

"You know, Mary. I am a firm believer that everyone lives his life in his own way, thus one should never minimize a person's pain, and more importantly one's own. I don't know what I would have done in that situation by myself in a strange Country, but here you are. You got through it."

Mary was truly shocked by how the very first proof of true empathy and understanding ever since her return to England had come from a perfect stranger. As they sat still in silence for a few seconds, the sound of the electric kettle turning off interrupted both girls' line of thought.

"There was one more thing I wanted to ask you," Anna said standing up to fetch some mugs, "The boys outside, the …agents?" she asked as Mary nodded with a chuckle, "Are they going to stand outside the whole afternoon?"

"Pretty much" Mary answered, but then popped her head out of the kitchen, "Alfred? James?" she called.

Mary's call was followed by a perfectly synchronised sound of steps that brought the two agents in the girls' presence.

"Yes, lady Mary?" James inquired.

"Is there anything we could do, Lady Mary?" Alfred joined his colleague nervously.

"Yes, there most definitely is." Mary said very seriously, "You can sit down and have a cup of tea."

While the silence and seriousness was kept for a few seconds, it didn't take long for Mary and Anna to burst into laughter as soon as they saw the confused looks on the agents' faces.

By the end of the weekend, the small university town started to fill up again. While the halls and corridors of the St. John's looked absolutely beautiful with nobody around, Mary was starting to appreciate seeing new faces and feeling the general excitement in the air. Plus, while the number of students increased, the number of tourists decreased, making Cambridge a much lovelier place.

Surely, going around with bodyguards at few feet's distance 24/7 wasn't exactly a blast, but Mary still hadn't found an actual reason to complain about their presence. The press hadn't bothered her just like her parents had promised, and everyone was generally really nice to her. Well, maybe that was what bothered Mary a tiny bit.

While it had been super fun to go from one country to the other and have people worship the ground you walk on, here in Cambridge it all seemed a little … fake. According to Sybil it was normal as it was exciting to have somebody 'famous' as a classmate, but that it was going to wear off soon just as it had happened to her. Mary only hoped that her notoriety wasn't going to slow down that process.

"Isn't it a bit weird that we have an introduction to every class during freshers week?" Mary complained looking at her schedule while opening up a can of cider and placing to share with Anna there on the grass.

"Well, this is Cambridge I guess." Anna chuckled as she filled her cup with the fresh drink, "I actually think it's pretty smart though, since we get only 10 lectures per module it's nice to have one separate introduction where you can get the necessary information out of the way."

"Sounds like one extra lecture to me." Mary whined as she bit into her sandwich.

"What's your first subject? I have Introduction to Statistics at 2."

"That's heavy after lunch," Mary joked, "I only have the introduction to an elective today, Tudor History." She wouldn't have wanted to lose her cool, but she was actually really excited about that.

Two p.m. arrived quickly and it was time for the two flatmates to go in separate directions. After a few stops due to a couple of star-struck youngsters, Mary finally made it to the lecture hall. It was in one of the old buildings and had one of those impressive high ceilings. Mary guessed this was one of the perks of studying history.

The room was already mostly full and she had to wonder for a few good minutes to find a decent empty seat. Although she had dressed to impressed, she had to admit she wasn't loving all the attention that the two agents pushing the crowd to the sides were giving her. After a few 'Hellos' and 'Hey there Lady Marys', Mary hoped the looks and finger pointing would stop. Her hopes were especially high when the lecturer walked in and started introducing himself, but Mary could still feel the room's eyes pointed at her and the soft, yet annoying, buzz inhabiting the large circular room.

The Professor had noticed it too, but after acknowledging her presence had cleverly decided to ignore it and proceed as nothing was actually going on. It would have stopped sooner or later. One would think.

"… In the reading least you'll find the usually weekly mandatory readings, but also some texts I suggest you should read to really get in– Oh Jesus… Listen, everybody! I know I am not as aesthetically as Lady Mary here, but I would really like it if you would direct your attention to me. In the end it will be more useful in order to pass the class."

The little speech from the lecturer in the end only provoked a few chuckles, but didn't help diminishing the chatter in the room. The poor man tried to go on unfazed, until he sighed in exasperation, "Are there any questions?"

For what was quite possibly the second worst three minutes of her life (another moment made the top of the podium), Mary held her breath as she witnessed the whole room staring at her so attentively, it almost looked they were expecting her to burst into song.

"I have a question," a voice dared from the back rows, allowing Mary to catch her breath again, "Will the course focus more on the Henry VIII years or on its end going into the Elizabethan period?"

"That is actually a good question …"

"Matthew."

"Well, thank you Matthew. So…"

As the teacher took the time to answer the question, and surprisingly earning some attention by the most interest students, Mary turned to look at her mysterious saviour. That Matthew had an impeccable posture that showed the perfectly toned muscled through a blue striped shirt. He looked more intelligent and put together than the students sitting beside him, so much Mary was surprised she hadn't noticed him before out of the crowd. He had delicate, yet masculine facial features, soft blonde hair tidily combed and striking pair of blue eyes which, contrary to most of their classmates, were firmly fixed on the teacher standing in front of them.

The rest of the class went on pretty smoothly, almost as if that question had broken that embarrassing spell. Once the time was up, unsurprisingly quite a few students approached the teacher's desk to ask some last minute doubts. Mary collected her stuff and quickly had a look around the room trying to spot the kind stranger with the pretty blue eyes. When her room scan proved unsuccessful, she reluctantly nodded in the direction of Alfie and Jimmy (that's how she was calling them now), and made her way out of the crowded lecture room.

As she climbed down the stairs in disappointment, she took out her mobile and read an excited text from Anna and one about dinner plans from Sybil. As usual, she didn't look at the road in front of her while she was texting back and bumped straight into the back of a guy standing at the bottom of the stairs.

As she stopped with a gesture Alfie and Jimmy who were already at her sides, she looked up ready to apologise and noticed that very familiar pair of blue eyes.

"Oh, erm… It's you!" was all she managed to say.

"It's you … back!" Matthew replied.

"Listen, I wanted to thank you for stepping in in there." Mary said gratefully.

"It's alright," Matthew replied almost non-caringly, "I was really interested in the lecture."

"In any case, I really appreciated it. It was becoming rather unbearable."

"Can I give you some piece of advice?" Matthew voiced frankly, "Next time, just try to be less … unmissable." He added looking at the two bodyguards and at Mary's rather striking fitted red dress. One could tell he was not trying to be insulting, but that at the same time was kind of enjoying it.

"Well, I have to go now. It was nice meeting you … _m'lady_ " and with the sharpest little smile he was gone, rushing down the corridor.

Mary was left absolutely speechless. She didn't know whether to feel more appalled or amused. For the first time since she had set foot in Cambridge, and frankly for the first time in such a long time, someone had not been unnecessarily nice to her. Quite the contrary, he had been quite rude. And for some reasons Mary found herself enjoying that more than she should have.


End file.
